Saturday, September 30, 2017

I went against
all I believed in and fell in love with what should have been a one-night
stand! I fought it, tried to make up rules to prevent the inevitable, but
somehow, he knew all along. He understood what I wanted and was willing to
comply. I was the one who took him for granted. I was the one who made him walk
away. And now, he’s gone and I’m left with nothing but my thoughts and regrets.
He was never supposed to be my happily ever after. But my favorite love story
ends in tragedy, so why wouldn’t mine?

RYDER

I played the
white knight, doing what every woman dreams of to win her over, yet it still
got me nowhere! But what did I expect? I wasn’t the man she wanted! Nothing I
could have done would have landed me the girl. I guess love is funny that way.
One minute, you think you have the girl, and the next, you realize you were
blinded. Walking away was hard, but watching her with another man was harder.
Sometimes you have to pick your battles, and I know when I’ve lost. Love
shouldn’t be a game, but I learned someone always loses. For once, I wasn’t the
one being selfish, but I was the one who paid the price.

Shantel is a
Texas born girl who now lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her high school
sweetheart, who is a wonderful, supportive husband and their seven year old
little princess. She loves to spend time cuddled up on the couch with a good
book.

She considers
herself extremely lucky to get to be a stay at home wife and mother. Going to
concerts and the movies are just a few of her favorite things to do. She hates
coffee, but loves wine. She and her husband are both huge football fans,
college and NFL. And she has to feed her high heel addiction by shopping for
shoes weekly.

Although she has
a passion to write, her family is most important to her. She loves spending
evenings at home with her husband and daughter, along with their cat and dog.

“It’s becoming fast apparent that the only way I’m going to be able to
stay away from a certain diner waitress is if she orders me away. . . And, even
then, it’s going to be difficult to stay away.”

Hollywood heartthrob Nate Stone returns to his south Louisiana hometown
to direct a movie, but once he gets there all he can think about is the pretty
waitress at the local diner. Tori Wilson knows that the smoking hot
actor-turned-director will stop at nothing to get her into his bed, but he can
only offer her a short affair–and he’s asking for a lot more than simple sex.
Tori has never wanted anyone as badly as she wants Nate, but is she willing to
let him take control when she’s already been burned before? And if she submits
to his commands, will he dominate her heart?

“Nate Stone leaves devastation in his wake. When he walks away from me
the last time, I’ll be a different person than I was before I met him. It would
be smart of me to end it here and now, but god help me, I’m in too deep already
and the only way this will end is when he leaves me for good, crushed and alone.
I can’t stop it and I won’t, I’ll continue to fall to my doom with only the
hope that there will be something left to my heart on the other side. Even so.
. . I want everything he can give me.”

D.L. Hess read her first romance novel when she was ten years old. It was Judith McNaught’s Once and Always, and she spent that entire Saturday night hiding in the closet and reading until she was done . . . only to start again from the beginning. That book left an imprint, an imprint that she hopes to leave with you.

D.L. Hess grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and now goes between her hometown and Los Angeles, where she works as a screenwriter. Her partner-in-crime is a nine-pound Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix named Busby Berkeley who travels with her everywhere in a carrier that looks like a purse. D.L. Hess is an avid fan of Cajun cooking, traveling, and discovering new experiences. Her travel bucket list includes cruising all the major rivers in the world. So far, she has only hit two of them.

Devastated by the unrequited love she has for Josh, she has no choice but to sit back and watch him play the field, her heart breaking a little more each time she sees him.

In an attempt to forget about Josh and move on, she distances herself from those who love her. Josh is never far from her thoughts though. In a desperate attempt to feel something for someone and fill the void, she makes a reckless choice – one that will change her life forever.

Once her secret is revealed, relationships are threatened, and Savannah stands to lose those closest to her. When she needs someone the most, Josh proves to be her greatest support, and soon the lines of friendship become blurred. When she confronts him about his feelings for her, he reveals a secret of his own – a secret that could destroy them before they’ve even started.

Can Savannah and Josh make a relationship work? Or are there some secrets that are too hard to overcome?

Laura Farr lives in Shropshire with her husband and
two children. When she isn’t working, or being a Mummy she is pursuing her
dream of writing.

She is a romantic at heart and loves nothing more than
writing stories with a happy ever after, even if there is the odd chapter of
angst thrown in! Her desire to write came from her love of reading and when she
isn’t writing you will find her attached to her kindle or spending time with
her family.

Jiffy Kate is the joint pen name for Jiff Simpson and Jenny Kate Altman.

Jiff was born and raised in Louisiana. She’s now living in Texas with her
two teenagers and two bulldogs, Georgia Rose and Jake. She spends her days
enabling people’s LulaRoe addictions. Don’t worry, it’s not illegal.

Jenny Kate was born and raised in Oklahoma where she lives with her
husband, teenager, and two high-maintenance Cavalier King Charles Spaniels,
Wrigley and Oliver. She’s a coffee-obsessed accounting assistant, who wishes
she had an endless supply of money and vacation days.

Some people think they’ve been friends forever, but they’ve only known
each other about six years. Kindred spirits and all that. After their first
“date”, they knew it was fate. Five years ago, they started writing their first
story and they haven’t stopped.

Their first published book, Finding Focus, was released in November 2015.
Since then, they’ve published the second book of the Finding Focus Series,
Chasing Castles; a new adult romance, The Other One; and a sexy novella series,
Table 10.

If you like a romance set in the south, then you’ll love their southern
fried fiction with heart and soul.

Once upon a
time, a girl loved a boy and he loved her back. They lived happily ever after.

But our
story was never that simple.

I loved
Josh with all I had, right until the day he left. Now, all these years later,
he was back—and wanting me the way I’d always longed for him. Except now, I
belonged to someone else. Someone who never left me the way Josh had. I figured
that was the end of our story. I couldn’t alter the past.

I didn’t
want to rewrite my future.

Brianna was
always more than my best friend. She was the shining light in my black hole of
an existence, and I loved her with every cell and bone in my body. I wasn’t
good enough for her, though—more the villain than the hero in our fairy tale.
When I had to leave, I vowed to come back a better man—for her. But when I
finally did return, she wasn’t waiting for me anymore. She had someone new, her
very own Prince Charming. Did that mean our story was over? I couldn't change
our past.

Brianna hadn’t uttered a single word since we stepped into the truck. Tension radiated off her entire body as she faced as far away from me as possible. I knew she was avoiding me. Our near kiss was too much for her to handle right now. I should’ve backed off and let her have her space, and I did for a few days. All we were doing was delaying the inevitable—whether she chose to admit it or not.

“I’m sorry we had to leave so soon. I would have liked to meet more of your friends.” I glanced her way, and Brianna nodded in response, still not looking at me.

“I saw Christal corner you at the bar.” Her voice was aloof but the ticking in her jaw said otherwise as she drew back into the seat.

Sick, my ass. I noticed her glaring at me and Christal tonight. She stared daggers into Christal’s back every time she touched me. She could act as aloof as she wanted. I knew she fucking hated it. My cupcake was in a losing battle with herself. She was going to make herself really get sick if she didn’t surrender soon.

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Chatty little thing.”

Brianna nodded but wouldn’t look my way.

“She is. I’m surprised she didn’t slip you her number,” she scoffed.

“Oh, she did. In fact, she opened with that.” I fought a smile, picturing the wheels turning in her adorable little head.

Brianna’s head whipped to mine. “She did?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked with as much innocence as I could get away with. “You don’t like her?”

“No,” she offered a bit too abruptly. “I mean, she’s fine, I guess. You can talk to whomever you want.”

"So, if I take her out . . . you'd be okay with that?” I let Christal down easy and right away, but Brianna didn't need to know that. The prick in me wanted to see how this played out.

"Sure." She shrugged as she turned away from me again. "Do what you want." Her jaw clenched so hard, I thought she was going to chip a tooth as she focused on the Hudson River whizzing passed the car window.

Since we were kids, she had the worst poker face. I always knew the second she was pissed off, and judging by how her chest heaved, she was about ready to blow.

Traffic always bottlenecked around the same exit. We inched until we came to a full stop. I slid my arm around her and leaned in. She stiffened, but unless she jumped out of the car onto the side of the highway, she had nowhere to go.

I nuzzled her cheek. Fuck it, I was going for broke.

"And if I . . . take her home. You'd be . . ."

"Fine," she breathed out, her voice a mix of fury and lust. "Like I just said, do what you want."

I laughed, victorious. "Cupcake," I whispered as my lips grazed her cheek, “you are so full of shit."

Author Bio

Stephanie
Rose grew up loving words and making up stories. Being able to share them with
readers is her dream come true. This lifelong Bronx girl loves Starbucks, wine
and 80s rock. Her voice often gets mistaken for a Mob Wives trailer.

She married
her prom date and has a seven-year-old LEGO obsessed son. She believes there is
nothing sexier than a good guy who loves with all his heart, and has made it
her mission to bring as many as she can to the page.